text editing in ubuntu

[steve]

from Dan Farrell, on Thu Aug 06 2009:

>> On Tue, 4 Aug 2009 03:10:13 +0100
>>
>> steve <utopia_beach at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>> > ... a minimalist at heart.
>>
>> Me too; if you're also a DIY kind of persion then check out gentoo.
>> not for the feint of heart, but it'll get you up to speed on cli really
>> fast.

i've just had a quick look at gentoo features, philosophy, etc, and it  
sounds like the kind of setup i would like to have in the long run, 
especially the ability to choose what not to have. i have had experience 
with rolling my own kernels with slackware and was amazed by the amount of 
stuff i didn't need in the standard kernel. you've piqued my interest!

>> > i love linux and i've always wanted to ditch windows completely but
>> > have never found a satisfactoty means of editing text, or of editing
>> > text in email. i also need a good html editor.
>>
>> vim.  with proper syntax highlighting vim is beautiful.  learning curve
>> is steep, but not as steep as everyone says.  advantages: - don't need
>> gui to feel at home (ssh login, anyone? ever break X?)  - very
>> lightweight. (compare to bluefish!)  - extremely powerful, with regular
>> expressions, macros, and the like.  - not emacs :-)  - included in some
>> form on most POSIX machines: learn vi commands and you'll always have
>> an editor.  As for the learning curve: biking downhill, though relaxing
>> and easy, is not recommended for training purposes, for obvious
>> reasons.

it was a while ago, but i remember using a vim-like editor to create a bash 
logout file with ascii art elements. it was pretty wierd to begin with but i 
got the hang of it eventually. other resondents have suggested strategies 
with regard to config files.

again i'm very interested. i'm going to give it a go.

>> for email you should try claws mail.  Super lightweight, fast, capable
>> mail client with all the features I want from email and none of the
>> cruft.  managed to configure UI such that it's pretty usable on my
>> 1024x600 screen.  you might be happy to know that it was also written
>> by a Japanese programmer (Hiroyuki Yamamoto).  email lends itself well
>> to lightweight gui apps IMHO.
>>
>> good lock.

i haven't tried claws mail recently. i did try it years ago but obviously it 
ought to have improved greatly in the meantime.

thanks very much for your response. actually, i'm beginning to think that 
plunging into cli ways of thinking could be the most exciting solution to 
present woes. text editing is my main concern, and i'm definately attracted 
to the idea of 'beautiful' syntax highlighting. i don't want to jump the 
gun, but who knows, maybe i'd end up using cli for email too, once i get 
into it. 

thanks,

steve